DESCRIPTION
adduser and addgroup add users and groups to the system according to command
line options and configuration information in /etc/adduser.conf.
They are friendlier front ends to the low level tools like useradd, groupadd and
usermod programs, choosing Debian policy conformant UID and GID
values, creating a home directory with skeletal configuration, running a custom
script, and other features. adduser and addgroup can be run in
one of five modes:

Add a normal user
If called with one non-option argument and without the --system or --group
options, adduser will add a normal user.

adduser will choose the first available UID from the range specified for normal
users in the configuration file. The UID can be overridden with
the --uid option.

The range specified in the configuration file may be overridden with the
--firstuid and --lastuid options.

By default, each user in Debian GNU/Linux is given a corresponding group with
the same name and id. Usergroups allow group writable directories
to be easily maintained by placing the appropriate users in the new group,
setting the set-group-ID bit in the directory, and ensuring that all
users use a umask of 002. If this option is turned off by setting USERGROUPS to
no, all users' GIDs are set to USERS_GID. Users' groups can also
be overridden from the command line with the --gid or --ingroup options to set
the group by id or name, respectively.

adduser will create a home directory subject to DHOME, GROUPHOMES, and
LETTERHOMES. The home directory can be overridden from the command line
with the --home option, and the shell with the --shell option. The home
directory's set-group-ID bit is set if USERGROUPS is yes so that any files
created in the user's home directory will have the correct group.

adduser will copy files from SKEL into the home directory and prompt for finger
(gecos) information and a password. The gecos may also be set
with the --gecos option. With the --disabled-login option, the account will be
created but will be disabled until a password is set. The --dis-
abled-password option will not set a password, but login are still possible for
example through SSH RSA keys.

If the file /usr/local/sbin/adduser.local exists, it will be executed after the
user account has been set up in order to do any local setup. The
arguments passed to adduser.local are:
username uid gid home-directory, and the environment variables DEBUG and VERBOSE
will be set according to the settings in the master program.

Add a system user
If called with one non-option argument and the --system option, adduser will add
a system user. If an user with an uid in the system range (or if
the uid is specified, with that) does already exist, adduser will exit with a
warning.

adduser will choose the first available UID from the range specified for system
users in the configuration file. The UID can be overridden with the --uid
option.

By default, system users are placed in the nogroup group. To place the new
system user in an already existing group, use the --gid or --ingroup
options. To place the new system user in a new group with the same ID, use the
--group option.

A home directory is created by the same rules as for normal users. The new
system user will have the shell /bin/false (unless overridden with the
--shell option), and have a disabled password. Skeletal configuration files are
not copied.

Add a user group
If adduser is called with the --group option and without the --system option, or
addgroup is called respectively, a user group will be added.

A GID will be chosen from the range specified for user UIDS in the configuration
file. The GID can be overridden with the --gid option.

The group is created with no users.

Add a system group
If addgroup is called with the --system option, a system group will be added.

A GID will be chosen from the range specified for user UIDS in the configuration
file. The GID can be overridden with the --gid option.

The group is created with no users.

Add an existing user to an existing group
If called with two non-option arguments, adduser will add an existing user to an
existing group.

OPTIONS
--conf FILE
Use FILE instead of /etc/adduser.conf.

--disabled-login
Do not run passwd to set the password. The user won't be able to use her account
until the password is set.

--disabled-password
Like --disabled-login, but logins are still possible for example through SSH RSA
keys, but not using password authentification.

--force-badname
By default, user and group names are checked against a configurable regular
expression. This option forces adduser and addgroup to apply
only a weak check for validity of the name.

--gecos GECOS
Set the gecos field for the new entry generated. adduser will not ask for finger
information if this option is given.

--gid ID
When creating a group, this option forces the new groupid to be the given
number. When creating a user, this option will put the user in
that group.

--group
When combined with --system, a group with the same name and ID as the system
user is created. If not combined with --system, a group with
the given name is created. This is the default action if the program is invoked
as addgroup.

--help Display brief instructions.

--home DIR
Use DIR as the user's home directory, rather than the default specified by the
configuration file. If the directory does not exist, it is
created and skeleton files are copied.

--shell SHELL
Use SHELL as the user's login shell, rather than the default specified by the
configuration file.

--ingroup GROUP
Add the new user to GROUP instead of a usergroup or the default group defined by
USERS_GID in the adduser.conf file.

--no-create-home
Do not create the home directory, even if it doesn't exist.

--quiet
Suppress progress messages.

--system
Create a system user.

--uid ID
Force the new userid to be the given number. adduser will fail if the userid is
already taken.

--firstuid ID
Override the first uid in the range that the uid is chosen from.

--lastuid ID
Override the last uid in the range that the uid is chosen from.